THE DEATHS of three soldiers who collapsed on an SAS march were "contributed to by neglect" including a delay in medical assistance, a coroner has ruled.

Corporal James Dunsby, Lance Corporal Edward Maher, and Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, suffered fatal heatstroke during a gruelling 16-mile march on one of the hottest days of the year.

An inquest heard that L/Cpl Maher, from Winchester, and L/Cpl Craig Roberts, from Penrhyn Bay in North Wales, were pronounced dead on the hills after marching in temperatures of up to 27C (81F).

Cpl Dunsby, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, had collapsed on the side of a main road amid "heatwave" conditions following the march in Brecon Beacons on 13 July 2013.

He died two weeks later in hospital after suffering multiple organ failure caused by heatstroke.

Concluding an inquest into their deaths today, senior Birmingham coroner Louise Hunt criticised the "chaotic" response after the three men fainted.

She ruled that a delay in response times and a lack of build-up marches contributed to the fatalities, and that the men "would have survived" if the march had been called off earlier.

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Cpl Dusby died two weeks after the march

Had the organisers followed the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) code of practice, the exercise would have been scrapped after two men were withdraw before the deaths for heat-related illnesses, Ms Hunt ruled.

Army personnel admitted in the inquest that they were not aware of the contents of the MoD guidelines.

Ms Hunt said: "Those running this march were fundamentally under-briefed. They did not fully understand the risk of heat illness, and the emergency plan was inadequate.

"I consider the briefing to those running the march to be inadequate as it failed to include weather conditions, the risk of heat injury and the reporting of reasons for medical withdrawals should they occur."

In the case of each soldier there was a failure to provide basic medical care which contributed to their deaths

Louise Hunt

Delivering her verdict, Ms Hunt also criticised checkpoint staff, who she ruled had missed vital signs of heat illness in Cpl Dunsby.

The hearing was told how GPS trackers used to monitor candidates were not fit for purpose, with the failure to recognise that the three men had stopped moving being described as a gross failure.

Speaking at the hearing in Solihull, Ms Hunt: "There would have been an obvious need for this attention and there was a delay in providing effective medical treatment, in not identifying they were static, which contributed to their deaths."

A lack of water also contributed to the death of L/Cpl Maher, the hearing was told.

The tragic march involved 37 reservists and 41 regular soldiers who were trying to gain entry to a special forces signals regiment.

Seven other candidates were treated for effects of heat following the exercise, the inquest heard.

During the march, the men carried almost 25kg of kit in a rucksack - not including two litres of water - and had trackers following their movements.

While she said the deaths did not amount to unlawful killing, the coroner reached a conclusion of neglect.

Ms Hunt ruled: "In the case of each soldier there was a failure to provide basic medical care which contributed to their deaths."

The inquest heard from staff on the march, candidates and senior officers, including the former head of UK Special Forces.